"pediré" or "pedí"

Question

i was going through the differences between "por" and "para" in the reference section. One of the sentences was :

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/100035/para-and-por

Por el número de gente que vino, pediré más comida. (Because of the number of people who came, I ordered more food.)

Souldn't it be "pedí" instead of "pediré" ???

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

"Pedí" is Past Time and "Pediré" is Future Time. For "Por le número de gente que vino, pedí…" and for "Por el número de gente que vendrá, pediré…"

• De aquerdo. It's obvious from the context of the sentence. Thanks for the sharp eye. - 0057ed01 Nov 22, 2009
• "De acuerdo" You have god day. - EdiOswaldo Nov 22, 2009

Answer 2

I think that it depends on what point in time you are speaking from. If both actions happened in the past and are completed, then both preterite.

If the people have all arrived and I haven't asked for the extra food yet, then I could use the future tense. (this is the awkward one. Usually we use the present and future tense. Because of the number of people that are here, I will have to order more food, not because of the number of people that came, I will order more food.) I see nothing incorrect about it, however. Because so many people came (I only anticipated half of those invited to actually come), I will have to order more food.

If the people haven't all arrived and I haven't ordered the extra food then both could be future as Vernet says.

For what was translated (both past), however, pedí should have been used not pediré.

Answer 3

Good catch ,smalleye, one can see your studies are advancing

• ¿Cómo sería traducido al español la frase anterior? ¿sería así? "Buena atrapada ojo pequeño, uno puede ver tus esudios están avanzando" - EdiOswaldo Nov 22, 2009

Answer 4

I agree with your first conclusion. The story is told about a past event - all past tense. But, if you are at this party, then you have no idea if all people have arrived or not. So you must say (and in slightly different form because "numero de gente" is not common usage), "Por tanta gente que haya venido, pediré más comida." This puts the first phrase into perfect tense.